SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

[justenoughtobedangerous]

I am trying to install a SenDec - single leed (one wire) hour meter on a 2010 Mercury 90 4 stroke efi. The instructions say attach wire to exposed section of coil above the spark plug. The coil is encased in plastic and the meter does not read. Is there another place that the leed can be attached?

 

[Fireman431]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

Not seeing the meter, I may be taking a stab in the dark.

Every (reread: EVERY) hour meter I have ever seen has 2 wires on it. A +12v hot lead and a -12v ground. The black wire should be properly grounded to the negative terminal or buss bar and the positive lead should go to the terminal portion of the ignition switch that is hot when the key is on. This a simple open/closed circuit to the meter. It's on or it's off. If it is the kind with the little spinning wheel in the front, turn the key on and see if it turns every second or two.

Not every one will agree to the hot side of the ignition switch. Technically, you could leave the keyed switch in the 'on' position without the engine running, while racking up valuable seconds on your engines hour meter. By wiring it directly to the coil, it only operates while receiving power from the firing coil.

You can test it by holding the wires directly to the battery terminals to see if it works. It could, possibly, be a bad gauge.

If that doesn't help, post a pic of the wiring of the hour meter.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

You CANNOT wire a 12 volt hour meter to the ignition coil because it does not have a constant 12 volts on it. The SanDec meter is powered by an internal battery and has a single wire that is wrapped around a spark plug wire. It is not wrapped around the coil or any terminal on it. It is an inductive type of connection so there is no wire-to-wire connection.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

You CANNOT wire a 12 volt hour meter to the ignition coil because it does not have a constant 12 volts on it. The SanDec meter is powered by an internal battery and has a single wire that is wrapped around a spark plug wire. It is not wrapped around the coil or any terminal on it. It is an inductive type of connection so there is no wire-to-wire connection.

Thanks for the info. I stand corrected. I have never seen a single wire hour meter. I will look online for info on it to update my aging databank.

 

[turbinedoctor]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

I just did a quick read up on this meter and it is pretty cool.

http://www.sendec-products.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=241

I have not heard of this type before. But to me it would seem easier to use the regular two wire type and hook it up to the ignition switch instead of running a seperate wire all the way back to the engine. Just my thoughts.

Durwood

 

[dingdongs]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

i believe yours has to be only wrapped around the ht/wire that goes to any plug.they use this type on motocrossers and they normally have an internal watch type battery.obviously mx bikes have no batteries or charging circuit.i have one called big bang but ,yamaha ,ktm etc all have them where running time in hours has to be measured.they work on an inductive system similar to how your strobe light flashes.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

For most outboards since Hector was a pup, you didn't need to run a wire back to the engine since it was contained in the engine harness and there is a plug at the control box or under the helm. So single wire hour meters are actually more of problem to install if you want to hide the wires. Another issue is that they are battery powered and I believe battery life is five years or less. You might also want to know that there are single wire tachs and combination Tach/Hour Meters and some even have a service reminder function. My yard tractor has one.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: SenDec Hour Meter install on 4 stroke

I just did a quick read up on this meter and it is pretty cool.

It is cool. I'm gonna put one on my weed wacker...just because I can...